Filtering Posts by Month: March, 2015

This Little-Known Retirement Savings Strategy Beats The Pants Off
Your 401(k) or IRA… Both For Tax Savings AND Eliminating Market Risk.

By Rich Harshaw

Every single one of the 10,000+ companies I’ve ever helped with their marketing in the last 20+ years thinks that their company is pretty much the GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD.

I’m serious—all of them. From manufacturers to consultants to health care professionals… and any kind of company you can think of. They all think they’re fantastic. And remodelers are certainly no exception.

Truth be told, while most of the companies I have dealt with are really good at what they do, they’re not all that spectacularly different than some of their higher-caliber competitors. Hear me loud and clear: I’ve worked with a ton of really great companies. But even those great companies usually have at least a few competitors who are in their same ballpark.

But every once in awhile I find that true diamond in the rough—a company that offers products or services that are orders of magnitude better than anything else on the planet. The true “Best Kept Secret.”

In 2007, one of those companies found me.
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New Move-Ins Spend Tons Of Money On Remodeling Services…
How To Get Your Share Of The Pie.

By Rich Harshaw

“Because that’s where the money is.”

That’s the famous answer prolific bank robber Willie Sutton gave when asked why he robbed banks.

Then, he added, “It couldn’t be more obvious. Go where the money is, and go there often.”

When it comes to direct mail marketing for contractors, it’s pretty obvious where the money is: NEW MOVE-INS.

Just look at the data. According to Scarborough report released in 2012, new homeowners are more likely than established homeowners (those who have lived in their home for over three years) to spend on the following items for their new home:

• 53% more likely to repair or replace flooring
• 47% more likely to add or replace heating and cooling systems
• 47% more likely to have the interior of their home painted
• 45% more likely to remodel the home’s kitchen
• 34% more likely to replace siding
• 33% more likely to add on to the home
• 32% more likely to remodel the bathroom
• 29% more likely to replace windows
• 24% more likely to upgrade the home’s exterior
• 14% more likely to repair or replace the roof

It only makes sense, right? When people buy an existing home, they’re not always going to be crazy about the condition, the colors, the design, or the look. That’s when the checkbook comes out and the spending starts.

And that’s where you come in.
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You’d Be Surprised How Often Contractors’ Marketing Fails To Explain What They Actually Want People To Know

Here’s A Sales Letter That Tells The Prospects Everything EXCEPT What’s Actually Important.

(And It’s A Lot More Common That You Might Think.)

By Rich Harshaw

I guess the thought of writing marketing just freezes most people’s brains.

There is really no other way to explain why there is such a massive gap between what people KNOW in their brains and what they SAY when they sit down to type up a marketing piece.

This letter (below) is a perfect example of what I’m talking about: It’s well written—your 11th grade English teacher would probably give this an A. It’s coherent—it makes a decent case for what the problem is. And it has a call to action—it asks the reader multiple times to call for a free inspection.

But behind the beautiful prose lurks this letter’s dark secret: IT’S TERRIBLE, and it WON’T WORK!

It’s terrible because it tells the reader a bunch of information he THINKS he already knows, that he doesn’t think applies to him. Meanwhile, the truly important part of the discussion is completely omitted. That’s right: the #1 thing that will make somebody take action is not in the letter at all.

That’s where I come in.
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Here’s A Clever Little Writing Tool That Will Make Your Writing
More Powerful, More Persuasive… And More Fun.

By Rich Harshaw

Want to learn an easy little trick to make your contractor marketing more potent, powerful, and persuasive?

Hint: I just used it in that first sentence—did you notice it?

And no, I’m not talking about the alliterative use of the letter ‘p’. I also used it in the header for this article. It’s a grammatical device known as a “tricolon;” also sometimes known as the “Rule of Three.”

A tricolon (pl. tricola) is a writing device with three clearly defined parts of (usually) equal length, usually independent clauses, and of increasing power. They allow you to express your points more completely, emphasize your points better, and increase the memorability of your message. Oops, I did it again.
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